"Strawberries?"

"Yeah." Jonah nodded at him. "I was thinking about making some snacks for tea time. Something with strawberry since Senior Rosehearts like it so much."

That afternoon after class, Trey was about to go to the Ramshackle Dorm to drop some notes (and hoping to meet Riddle), when he was Jonah exited Mr. S's Mystery Shop, carrying a plastic bag filled with chocolate chips, whipping cream, and crackers. He looked a bit disappointed, so Trey decided to talk to him.

"Then you're in luck." Trey smiled at him. "I've been cultivating strawberries as my science club project since last year. I can give you some."

Jonah perked up at this, eye twinkling. "Really?"

"Yes. My strawberries right now are very sour, perfect for strawberry tarts and sweet chocolate."

"Those are for Senior Rosehearts, aren't they?" Jonah chuckled. "You're very loyal to him, huh, Senior Clover?"

Trey's lips pulled up a bit. "Riddle is my childhood friend, it's only understandable."

"He's lucky to have a friend like you."

…

Is he lucky though?

"He's luckier to have a friend like you."

"Eh?"

Trey stopped and Jonah stopped just a few feet behind him. He let out a sigh as he pushed his glasses up his nose. "I have to say thank you for comforting him after him overblotting."

"You knew?"

None of them left when Crowley suggested for them to leave the two injured boys in the infirmary. The headmaster left the door open just a bit, gave them a 'shh~' with an index finger pressed on his lips before leaving them alone. Ace was the first one to take a peek inside, followed by Grim and Deuce. Cater pulled Trey along.

To be honest, Trey was a bit hurt that Jonah was the one who woke up Riddle rather than him. He was supposed to be the one who takes care of Riddle, not this boy who in their first meeting only caused trouble. But the worst part was watching Riddle actually confessing to Jonah, not him. None of them expect Riddle to cry or to just let out everything he wanted but never get it. Watching Riddle just wailing in Jonah's arms stirred something inside him… Something protective…

"Senior Rosehearts is going to need all the help and friends he can get." Jonah suddenly said, making Trey turn around. Jonah stared at him with a warm smile. "You know him more than I do, so I'm going to need your hand on deck."

An invitation…

"I'll do anything."

Without hesitation.

"Thank you." Jonah thrust out his hand. "Welcome aboard, Mister Clover."

Trey stepped forward and reached for the hand. He would definitely help Riddle. He wasn't the little boy who couldn't do anything when Riddle was taken away by his mother that day at the bakery. He wasn't the little boy who didn't dare to speak up when he found Riddle's mother opening the door instead of Riddle himself. He wasn't the little boy who would just walk away when he was called a bad influence.

He's now Riddle's right-hand man and he will do better this time.

Jonah walked happily down the path of the botanical greenhouse. Trey's strawberries looked so good. It was juicy, a bit sour, but would be a good compliment for the chocolate fondue he was planning to make He hoped Senior Rosehearts like it though. He never complained during his stay there, so Jonah sometimes had a hard time guessing. They're gonna need to work on that communications…

*squish*

"Oof–!"

"Eh?"

Wait, who said that-

Before he could figure it out, he found himself being pulled down. He let out a startled gasp when his back hit the ground. His wrists were being pinned down beside his head by a pair of gloved hands. Slowly opening his eye because who dare-

"Hey. You've got some nerve stepping on someone's tail without apologizing."

Wait a minute.

He had heard that voice before.

The one above him was a muscular young-man with brown skin. He had thick, messy brown hair with two braids on either side. He also has green eyes, with a thin scar going from his left eyebrow to his cheek. He also has light-brown lion ears. A hybrid?

"E-Excuse me?!" Jonah managed to speak again.

"I went here thinking I can have a peaceful nap, but you go and walk all over my tail," the boy said with a hint of growls at the end. "Do you really think that I'm, Leona, just gonna let you off scot-free like that?"

"Look, I didn't mean to-!"

"Wait a minute…" The boy, Leona, leaned toward his face, and Jonah tilted his head to the side to avoid his nose. "Ah, you're the little herbivore that the Mirror said can't use magic."

Leona leaned closer and Jonah felt his cheek heat up when he felt the tip of the older boy's nose touched his neck, sniffing his scent. "Wh-What the heck are you thinking?!"

"Strange…" Leona muttered. "I smell a speck of magic on you." He released one of the smaller boy's hand, quickly pinned it, along with the other hand above his head. He brushed some of the bangs from his eye, finding his right eye covered by a medical eye-patch. "Heh. Now, what do we have here?"

"Wait-" Ignoring the boy, Leona snapped the eye-patch off, finding the strange yellow-and-red eye.

It was as if the world came to a halt. The eye-patch slipped off from Leona's hand. His face went slack, jaw slightly drop and eyes widened. It was no different for Jonah. It kind of reminded him of Senior Rosehearts after his Dwarfs' Mine adventure. There was a strange green tint in the young man's pupils. The green reminded him of that green light from the orb…

"Leona!"

The trance was broken. Both boys blinked back to reality. The young man, Leona, turned his head while Jonah tried to lift his head. A boy was walking toward him, wearing the NRC uniform but with a yellow vest like Leona. He had messy dirty-blond hair, a pair of hyena's ears on top of his head. His eyes are light blue and his hyena tail lazily wagging behind him.

"I knew you'd be here. It's time for your remedi- Ah?"

He went silent, clearly surprised at the position of the two. Jonah blushed again. Realizing that this was probably his only chance, he lifted his leg, kneeing Leona in the groin. Earning a "Tch!" from Leona, the older boy accidentally released Jonah's hand. The smaller boy quickly slipped away from him, grabbing his grocery plastic bags (hoping that nothing inside of them were ruined) and eye-patch, and ran as fast and as far as he could.

The hyena boy didn't make a move to stop him. He only watched them in amusement. "Heh~ Leona, did you find a new prey?" he asked turning back to Leona who sat on the ground.

Leona groaned. "Shut it, Ruggie."

The hyena-boy, Ruggie, snickered. "Come on, Leona. You've got remedial lessons today. You don't want to repeat another year, right? We'll end up being classmates next year if this keeps up, y'know?"

"Just stop nagging already," Leona muttered, rolling his eyes.

"I don't wanna nag you either!" Ruggie put his hands on his hips, looking like a mom scolding her son. "Geez, you can do anything you put your mind to, but you don't put effort at all. Come on, let's go!"

Leona sighed. "Tch." He glanced toward the way that strange-eyed boy ran off to. "Watch out next time you come onto my turf, Herbivore."

Riddle looked up when the Ramshackle Dorm was opened and quickly closed. Jonah was leaning against the door, breathing heavily and cheeks red. He looked like he just ran a marathon. Riddle quickly stood up, putting his crossword book on the table and he walked toward him. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry." Jonah wiped his brow, still breathing heavily. "I ran into some problem."

Riddle looked up and down at the boy, noticing the plastic bag he was holding, some red color could be seen in there. "Are those… strawberries?"

"Yeah." Jonah nodded. "You like them, don't you?"

Riddle opened his mouth before closing it. Jonah looked at him with that look that said 'it's okay, you can tell me', a look that Riddle always saw when he talks at him. In the end, Riddle nodded. "Yeah. Strawberry tart is my favorite."

Jonah smiled at him. "I'm going to make a snack for us. Be right back in a bit."

Jonah walked to the kitchen and Riddle followed him from behind, only stopping at the entrance, leaning against the frame. He watched Jonah turned on the stove and poured out some heavy cream, chocolate chip, and a bit dash of cinnamon before whisking them up. He actually enjoyed watching him cook for two days. There was always that smile on his face as if he was born to do this. When it was done, Jonah poured it into a bowl and prepared the strawberry and graham crackers.

Riddle found himself in the Ramshackle Dorm's lounge, eating the strawberry covered chocolate fondue. It was sour and sweet at the same time, which he liked. He glanced at Jonah. He was nibbling at his crackers, frowning at the paper in front of him.

"Any trouble?" Riddle asked.

Jonah looked up, a bit surprised, but soon he smiled. "Just some alchemy," he said, scratching his head with his pencil. "I forgot the ingredient of the cure for boils potion."

"Six crushed snake fangs, four horned-slugs, and two porcupine quills," Riddle quickly answered. "Put it in the cauldron in that order. Brew the crushed snake fangs first, before putting in the others."

"Oh, right." Jonah quickly wrote that down. "And to brew the snake fangs we need… A minute, right?"

Riddle nodded. "If you using a copper cauldron, yes, but if you're using a pewter cauldron, you'll need a minute and thirty seconds, while for brass is a minute and twenty seconds."

Jonah wrote that down too. "Geez, all of those just for one potion."

"Alchemy is tricky," Riddle said, biting to his strawberry. "One failed step and you'll fail."

Jonah chuckled. "I see." He looked up at Riddle again and gave him a wide smile. "Thanks, Senior Rosehearts."

Riddle blinked. There was it again: thanking him so sincerely. Just like back then after they had caught that demon-cat.

"Jonah." When Jonah, who went back to his homework, answered him with a "Hmm?" Riddle continued, "Why are you doing this?"

Jonah stopped writing. He turned his head toward him. "What do you mean?"

Riddle gripped his fork tighter. Head down, not daring to see him straight in the eye. "Helping me… Taking care of me… After all this time I've been rude to you…"

He heard Jonah sighed and scooted closer, their knee practically touching each other. "I've told you before. We're willing to give you a second chance."

Riddle shook his head. "I don't deserve it."

He felt Jonah pulled him into a one-sided hug, Riddle resting his head on his shoulder. It was funny how he just spent two nights together and Riddle already loving these physical affections. Maybe that was what he had been missing in his whole life. His mother never did this, and Trey probably wouldn't dare.

"Everyone deserves a second chance," Jonah answered, running his finger through his red hair.

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"How…"

He felt Jonah shrugged. "Just a feeling in my guts."

Riddle sighed. "You think the other will give me a second chance?"

"I know they will."

That was the reassuring he had been waiting for. "Then… I want to go back tomorrow."

"Are you sure?"

Riddle lifted his head and stare at Jonah straight into the eye. He knew he couldn't run away from his dorm forever, and he couldn't be a burden for Jonah. He had to return. He had to clean up his mess. "Yes. I need… I need to do this."

Jonah smiled softly at him. A smile that for some reason made Riddle's heart leap. "And I'll be right behind you."